SAN ANTONIO (June 26, 2009) — The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio’s School of Medicine had the second highest percentage of Hispanic medical students in the country during the 2007 academic year, a ranking released this month shows. The School of Medicine’s percentage was the highest among Texas medical schools.
Hispanics made up 18 percent of the School of Medicine’s total enrollment of 849 students in 2007, according to the “Top 25 Medical Schools Enrolling Hispanics” list in Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education magazine. The School of Medicine also ranked third in the nation in the number of Hispanic students with 153, including 95 females and 58 males.
“Diversity of our medical student population is one of our highest priorities, as we answer the keenly felt need of our region, the state and the nation for outstanding physicians,” said William L. Henrich, M.D., M.A.C.P., president of the UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, who was dean of the School of Medicine when the statistics were obtained. “This high ranking reflects the strong efforts of our admissions professionals, the many faculty members who interview prospective students, those who interact on many levels with students during the four-year medical curriculum, and the students themselves.”
Glenn A. Halff, M.D., interim dean of the School of Medicine, noted the holistic approach that is the centerpiece of the school’s student selection process. “This School of Medicine takes into account much more than standardized medical entrance examinations and grade point averages,” Dr. Halff said. “Many other qualifications, such as exemplary community service in hometowns across Texas, factor into the admission committee’s decision, which has afforded more excellent students of diverse backgrounds the chance to enter training for medical careers.”
The magazine created the list from data of the National Center for Education Statistics.
Other University of Texas medical schools also have strong percentages of Hispanic medical students. High rankings on the list went to the medical schools at the UT Medical Branch at Galveston, 16 percent; the UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, 13 percent; and the UT Health Science Center at Houston, 12 percent.
Only seven institutions on the list enrolled 100 or more Hispanic students, including the UT medical schools in San Antonio, Galveston, Dallas and Houston.
The rankings may be viewed at http://www.hispanicoutlook.com/data/pdf/june8-top25.pdf.
The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio is the leading research institution in South Texas and one of the major health sciences universities in the world. With an operating budget of $668 million, the Health Science Center is the chief catalyst for the $16.3 billion biosciences and health care sector in San Antonio’s economy. The Health Science Center has had an estimated $36 billion impact on the region since inception and has expanded to six campuses in San Antonio, Laredo, Harlingen and Edinburg. More than 25,600 graduates (physicians, dentists, nurses, scientists and other health professionals) serve in their fields, including many in Texas. Health Science Center faculty are international leaders in cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, aging, stroke prevention, kidney disease, orthopaedics, research imaging, transplant surgery, psychiatry and clinical neurosciences, pain management, genetics, nursing, dentistry and many other fields. For more information, visit www.uthscsa.edu.